| Biodiversity of Eutrombidium (Trombidiformes: Microtrombidiidae) in the Mahneshan mountain range, Zanjan province, Iran |
| Paper ID : 1119-IPCA5 (R1) |
| Authors |
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Hanieh Khodayari *1, Marjan Seiedy1, Masoud Hakimitabar2, Tara Pourmatin3 1University of Tehran 2University of Technology Shahrood 3Hakim Sabzevari University |
| Abstract |
| The subclass of Acari comprises the largest group of arthropods within the class Arachnida, with over 60,000 described species. They exhibit remarkable diversity in their morphological, physiological, behavioral, and ecological adaptations. Larvae of Parasitengona are ectoparasites of arthropods. Within this cohort, the host range of Eutrombidium species is often limited to short-horned grasshoppers. Understanding the biodiversity of this genus is essential for clarifying its ecological roles and distributional patterns. This research aimed to investigate the ecosystems impact on the diversity of Eutrombidium mites associated with short-horned grasshoppers from June to September 2024 in Zanjan Province. Grasshopper hosts were collected by an insect sweep nets during surveys in three distinct ecosystems: mountainous regions of the Mahneshan mountain range, alluvial plains along the Qezel Ozan River, and agricultural rangelands (wheat fields) in Mahneshan County, Zanjan Province. The larvae of these parasitengone mites were detached from the grasshopper hosts using an insect pin. Specimens were preserved in 75% alcohol, cleared in Nesbitt’s fluid, and mounted on microscope slides using Faure’s medium. The specimens were identified using valid identification keys, results led to the identification of the following species: Eutrombidium aegyptium Iravanlou, Kamali & Talebi, 2000 and E. tehranicum Iravanlou, Kamali & Talebi, 2000. Then, all analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26. In this study, the Shannon–Wiener diversity index, Pielou’s evenness index, and Margalef’s species richness index were evaluated across rangeland, alluvial plain, and mountainous stations. Comparison of these indices using independent samples t-test revealed no significant differences among stations for the Shannon–Wiener (p-value > 0.05) and Pielou’s evenness (p-value > 0.05) indices. However, significant differences were observed in Margalef’s species richness index between the agricultural rangelands and mountainous stations, as well as between the alluvial plain and mountainous stations (p-value < 0.05 for both comparisons). This is likely due to the greater diversity of microhabitats and lower human pressure in the selected mountainous ecosystem, which contributed to higher species richness in the mountainous ecosystem compared to the agricultural rangelands and alluvial plains. |
| Keywords |
| Ecosystem, Shannon–Wiener, Species richness, Evenness, Eutrombidium. |
| Status: Abstract Accepted |
